Pitch and yaw eliminator for vessels and the like



May 16, 1961 E. M. TOUSSEL 2,984,200

PITCH AND YAW ELIMINATOR FOR VESSELS AND THE LIKE Filed April 29, 1959INVENTOR Ernesi M. Toussel \immmmw ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1961 PITCHAND YAW ELIlVIINATOR FOR VESSELS AND THE LIKE Ernest M. Tousel, 13 EgretSt., New Orleans, La. Filed Apr. 29, 1959, Ser. No. 809,806

2 Claims. (Cl. 114121) The present invention relates to a pitch and yawelimi nator for vessels and the like, and has for an object to provide adevice which may be attached to presently existing vessels such as steamships, barges, small craft, naval vessels of all sizes regardless of thetype of power employed by the vessel.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described which may be attached to the bow of a vesselrequiring a minimum of labor and precision of construction.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device inadvance of the hull of the vessel which will first engage the waves orswells of the sea, river or lake to doze or clip off the top portions orcrests of the waves and roll this mound of water in advance of the shipwhereby the water contacted by the bow of the vessel will be relativelycalm and quiet and will also prevent the pitching and yawing actionwhich in a rough sea often exposes the screw of the vessel and removesit from contact with the water.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a deviceof the character described which will not only act as a fore and aftstabilizer to the vessel, but which will provide a collision impactreduction member which will cushion the vessel against a blow incollision with another vessel to thereby protect the water-tightintegrity of the hull of the vessel.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a fore and aftstabilizer which will provide a dozer-like effect in advance of thevessel hull without building up any air pressures between thedozer-li'ke device and the hull which would react to form a pneumaticlock.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a steam ship having the device ofthe present invention installed thereon;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the bow of the vessel of Figure 1taken at an enlarged scale with parts broken away and parts shown insection;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 44 in Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, designates generally adozer-like device secured in place on the hull 11 of a vessel. Thisattachment is of course at the bow or stem of the vessel. The device mayconsist of two side plates 12 and 13. These side plates 12 and 13 aregiven the external configuration similar to the bow construction and asshown best in Figure 4 the plates 12 and 13 extend from the top of thebow to the keel. Openings 14 and 15 are provided between the plates 12and 13 and the hull. The openings are maintained constant for aparticular installation by means of spacer bars or struts 16. Thesestruts 16 may be secured to the hull of the vessel in any suitablemanner as by bolting or welding.

The term dozer-like device as employed herein means a surface or membercontaining a surface positioned to engage the water in advance of thebow of the vessel and to distribute mounds or swells to provide a smoothpath for the bow of the vessel following behind the dozer-like device.This action is likened to the scraping blade of a bulldozer which levelsorsmooths out or renders dull the surface attacked by the scraper blade.

IAS shown best in Figure 2, the space between the dozer-like device 10and the hull 11 is open at the bottom as at 17 and the sides 18 topermit the escape of any air that would be compressed by the entrance ofwater from the bottom of the device. The top portion of the device maybe provided with a deck 19 which in plan view would be generallyV-shaped or conform to and cover the area between the vessel hull andthe dozer-like device 10.

In operation a vessel having the dozer-like device of the presentinvention installed thereon would engage the swells or waves 20, asshown in Figures 1 and 2, and impart a thrust or rolling action of thewater forward of the vessel and to the side, as shown at 21 and 22. Thiswill smooth the Water out in advance of the bow of the vessel 11,contacting the Wave or swell to produce a relatively quiet calm Water inand through which the vessel passes.

In rough seas I have found that this device will eliminate the pitchingand yawing of the vessel and reduce bow damage from hitting waves athigh speeds and will also reduce the shock incident to the poundingaction of the bow dropping down into the trough of waves.

The distance that the dozer-li'ke device 10 is placed in advance of thevessel hull may vary from vessel to vessel depending upon the size,speed and tonnage of the vessel. Since this acts as a dozing device, themean cruising speed of the vessel will determine the lead in advance ofthe hull for the optimum position of the dozer-like device 10. Generallyspeaking the higher the speed of the vessel the greater the distancethat the dozer-like device should be in advance of the hull for smoothoperation of the vessel. I do not restrict myself in this disclosure toany fixed distance of the dozer-like device from the vessel hull sincethe speed and hull characteristics of each vessel may vary as well assea conditions.

The dozer-like device, i.e., both the plates and the attaching structuremay be made of a light alloy material having high strengthcharacteristics and low weight.

My device may be particularly useful in connection with aircraftcarriers to provide the stability to the hull necessary to insure asubstantially level fiat flight deck for take-off and landings.

The device of the present invention may be installed and mosteffectively employed in connection with an LST or other type amphibiousbarge-like vessel having front doors which open to permit the droppingof a load and discharge ramp, and when installed in this environment thedevice may be secured to arms pivoted to the side of the vessel whichmay be elevated either hydraulically or by conventional deck winches toclear the discharge doors at the bow of the vessel.

Although I have disclosed herein the best form of the invention known tome at this time, I reserve the right to all such modifications andchanges as may come within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a vessel having a hull adapted to be moved through thewater, a fore and aft stabilizing device comprising water-engaging meansof solid wall construction having geometrical similitude with the bow ofthe vessel and positioned to engage surface irregularities of the waterand to distribute such irregularities of the water to provide asubstantially smooth water path in advance of the bow .of the vessel toremove the yawing and pounding of the bow of the vessel against thewater, said means overlapping the bow by at least one-half thelongitudinal dimension of said means, and spacer means connected to thewater-engaging means and adapted to connect said water-engaging means tothe bow of the vessel in advance of the bow of the vessel to positionthe water-engaging means in advance of and spaced from the bow of thevessel.

4 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the water engaging means isof V-shape and the side walls thereof extend from the deck to the keelof the vessel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS980,964 Kalous Ian. 10, 1911 1,065,506 Constantin June 24, 19131,822,223 Klinger Sept. 8, 1931 2,378,822 Barry June 19, 1945 2.776.637Chadwick Jan. 8. 1957

